Hair clipper



Aug. 14, '1945;

H. AARON HAIR CLIPPER Filed March 21, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 14, 1945;

HAAR@ Y 2,381,857

HAIR CLIPPER y Filed March 21, 193s j 2 sheets-sheet' 2 l Y Y HJVEIQITOR.I H'rfy az'm] Y tively vcloser shave ydry sheyersV l* ,I Y Patented Aug.v 14, 1945 llarry Aarem-'New York,`N.,Y., assignorto HerbertA E. Page, Pasadena, Calif.

` f Application March 21, i938, serial No.,1'9|7,094 y je Claims. (01.139743) i The'present'Y invention rela-tes to' electrically operateddry shaving apparatus ofthe type dis- `closed inaU S. Patent No'.Y 1,970,518,-.is`sue'd to'me Y August14,s1934,'for Hair-clipper. jY f ,y fif'Tlefpresentinvention contemplates the pro-1 vision ofirnproved-dry shaversof thefchar'acter ndescribedv'which willfb'e more eiective in operl ation to give amore comfortable andi closerV shave. f #The present invention further contemplates the Y provision of such improved dry shavers whichwill-` be economical to produceV and easy and convenient to assemble, andparticularly adaptable and con- Y venientfor the replacement or interchangingkof v fthe parts of the'instruments. n y

" f The present invention contemplates the accom-` {plishment Vof the foregoing purposes'by providing dry Shavers of the type to which it relates with a Vrnotor operated cutten which Veither reciprocates forrotates in a freely movablehousingor guard and thus'makes'possible easierA and smoother and more comfortable movementofthe operative part Vofthe shaver over the face.`

Y n This invention contemplates the further attainf "menti of its-:objects by theY provision ofv such freely movable housing Asurrounding the cutter which l L relatively'thin and flexible; bothfof Whichcharactersticspermita closer'approa'ch of the cutter to thegbasje'of the hair, to obtain"ther,eby VVa relathan'her'etofore Ypossible with Thisinvention contemp1ates* the provision of isuch a novelcutter assembly which may'r'be producedin a`frm adapted fort operative Zassembly with the'lhandle'enclosred motors of lthe type now used' in the art, such vas the type shown in my aboveidentifle'd patent. f

In addition, .my novel freely movablehousing maybe combined with any type'of movable cutter "1 such'as the rotary reciprocatory cutters vof -the vprior art.ff Y ,v yIn dry Shavers of the'fpresent kVI'lOWnI'tYDe, Sta' Vtionary perforated housings'are provided, Y YWith Y such Shavers, there is a tendency forthe hair tojbe Y-bent'awaylfrom the perforation, into which,VVV it is to be admitted tolbe cut., Therefore', unless the hair admitting perforation chances tolbe disposed y Y in proper position for admission as `the Vdevice 'f is passedover theskin,it willbe forced'l away from frtherperforat'ionand, therefore, will not be out.Y

Y l YVBy Droviding a perforated housing which' is Y freelyl suspended Yon thefmovable cutter vori-freely `mo vable' withrelation thereto,Y I lovercomel these `inherente disadvantages pf the known prior. devices. Y. Y. .y Y

'f Byzsuch f construction, itlliscontemplated to p'rovideahousing which freely'rotatesror'moves relatively tothe movable cutter asfitis'passed f Hoverfthe' skin toi-thereby always dispose afhair admittingrperforation to the hairtobe Acutrirrefspective `of `Athe direction iny which the .device is moved.;4 Due to the combined rollingv and sliding movement ofcthe' outer; housing,y the hair willeither fall .or bexscraped into or because-of the inherent resilience of the hair spring into any perforation brought into alignment with hair.

y In the shavers heretofore used, since the outer housings are, stationary, only'a limitedarea thereof is available for-the provisionof hair admitting perforations. y On the'other hand, in my new device, since the outer housing rotates about Vthe movable cutter,l the entire surface of .the housing mayl be perforated; Such perforations, further moreymay'be comparativelyA numerous and relatively; closetogether to thereby provide 'a maximum of .open hair admittingsurface.l Y

Itzis still-further contemplated to provide a pe'rfnratedouter housingwhich is freely suspended on the movable `cutter gto thereby permit lthe outer-housing to be urged asa unit and maintainedagainst thefcutter by normal shaving pressure.Y Because 'of the extremely thin housing, whichmaybe used, this resultvsgin-much'closer andV faster shaving than heretofore possible:

' These and vother advantages of thedry shaving apparatus of the present invention, the'de'tails of their .construction andfassaemblyand their i method of operation will become clearerfromthe severalpractical embodiments and modifications '-thereofwhichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Y Fig. lis a side elevational view;

`away and in section, tofshow details ofi-construetion, assemblyand cooperation with Ya'power unit,

1 of an embodiment of the present` invention; l

Fig. 2 isan end view of the same; Y

. V-Fig.3 is a vertical sectionalviewof 'the-same taken alongline 3--3 'of'Fig. 1;'

Fig. i` isza-r side elevationalview, partly broken away and in section Atomake its details of -construction and assembly'clearer, of another enr- ',bodiment .of the present invention.

'Fig..5 is a side elevational view, partly broken :away and inasection, to show greater detail", of a @further modification of fmy invention.' 'f

The embodiments villustrated are all designed Vfor usein association with the welllll'nownpow- `y1,970,518 comprising la. hollow handle IllV con'- wtaining amotor which is not thought Vnecessary ytobe shownbut is indicated by the motor shaft er unit .ofYthe 'type' illustrated in `Patent No.

partly broken VteringY into the perforatons.

Yscrew threadedvinto one of the walls I6.

I2 which extends into the space I4 formed between upstanding parallel walls I6 which form a seat for the hair cutting mechanism of the various embodiments.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1, 2' and 3, the hair cutting mechanism comprises a reciprocating cutter member I8 which is preferably a cylinderhaving an eccentric bore 2U,

whereby one portion of the cylinder wall is thin- To shear the hair as closely to the skin `as possible, the guard member is preferablyformed of relative-ly flexible, thin `metal, preferably of a spring steel sheet of about two thousandths fof an inch in thickness, whichv is bent into cylind'rical shape, the base edges being Aengaged-by closelyV tting rings 32, to retain the cylindrical form movementf It will be understood that sufficient clearance should be allowed to permit vfree movement of the guard member about the cutter I8. It will be understood that, if desired, braking means to restrict the relative freedom of rotation of the guard member 28 may be provided in any suitable manner such as by inserting a spring between the forked arms 46 and the guard members or by maintaining such forked arms and guard member infrictional engagement.

In order to -`enhance the ,presentation of perforations for the admission of hair to be cut, as the'guard member"A is rolled over the skin about thev cutter, I provide numerous small perforations preferably in relatively closely spaced staggered arrangement. Such perforations may be arranged parallel to the cutting teeth, as illustrated at 30, or, if desired, at an angle to said cutter teeth.

To reciprocatethe cutter upon operation of the motor, the block 38 is provided,vatlsubstan tially its center,- with a transverse Slbtl 52, of a suitable width to snugly accommodatefa pin 54 The guard member construction described enables a housing' not more than .002 ofan inch in thickness to be used, which extreme thinness has not been practically possible heretofore.

,Theguard member 28 is freely suspended on the movable cutter so that it is freely rotatable thereabout.` For that purpose, the housing is preferably made with any internal diameter slightly larger than the external diameter of the movable cutter I8, and it will at once be apparent that as the deviceis movedover the skin the housing will revolve about the cutter and roll over the skin, much as a roller bearing with resulting" greater comfort in shaving. n

To mount theV cutter and housing operatively 1 upon the motor handle, there is provided a connecting block or base 34, preferably rectangular l in shape and adapted to fit snugly within the seat I4,v wherein it may be retained by a set The block ,34 is provided with a longitudinal vertical channel36 lat its lower end giving ita substantially inverted U-shape. Into this channel there is inserted a reciprocating cutter carrying block 38having k upstanding cutterengaging ears 40 to whichV theV cutter IB'may be secured by screws 42 threaded into Vthe baseof the cutter.

To permit the reciprocation of the cutter and carrier block 38, the spacebetween Vthe ears 40 must be sufficiently greater than the interveneccentrically placed on the end of. fejshaft` I2. It Willbe understood that the slot; 52gisfo such transverse length as to permit freeproper Amovement of the pin in such transverse direction. It will be apparent that as themotor shaftrotates the block 38 and the cutter I8 supported by it are reciprocated by the action of the pin 54 in said slot A52. Y n

,To retain the block 38 snugly fitted within the slot and to prevent its up and down movement therein, the walls of the channel 36 may be provided at their lower ends with dovetail grooves 56 within which may be fitted the dovetail edged retainer plate 58, which is provided with an opening 60 at substantially its center to permit access of the shaft pin 54 into the block slot 52.

The manner of operation of the above described embodiment will be obvious. As the device is passed over the skin, the, guard member 28 rolls thereon about the reciprocating cutter I8, to thereby dispose a plurality of hair admitting perforations 30 or 32 for entrance of the hair thereinto. The hair thus admitted is sheared by the action of the moving teeth 24against the walls of the perforations,

It Will be apparent that the guard member is fully suspended on the cutter memberV and as the device is passed over the skin Ain shaving will be pressed and held, as a unit, against the cutter thereby assuring a close sha've.

ing length of the base 34. APreferably,v in order to have the cutterfsupporting block protected during its movement, this `differencein length maytbe partly provided byforming grooves `44 in the edges of the base 34, toaccommodate the ears 40. i

The guard member 28v is placed over Ythe .cutter Figures 4 and 5 illustrate embodiments in which the freely rotatable guard member of the present invention is adapted for use with Shavers of the rotary cutter type Referringiparticularly to Fig. 4, I provide a cylindrical member 62, which is longitudinally slotted on its circumference .to form the parallel spaced cutting blades 64, between the end discs 66 on which are arranged the outwardly extending upper and lower shafts 68 and l'I0respectively.

Although I have illustrated the cutter with four blades, it will be understood that it may be provided with any desired number.

l To provide cooperating cutting edges for the '.mcutter blades 64, there is mounted around the vided at each edge with forked arms 46. These forked arms retain the guard member adjacent the cutter member andlimit its relative lateral "cutter member a cylindrical guard member 'I2 having air admitting i perforations 14, illustrated ,as round in shape, the edges of which serve as the cooperating cutting edges for the cutter blades to'make possible the. shearing process by which the hair is cut.

Theguard member I2 of this embodiment may Aclearance.

To support the cutter andV guard member operbentto form a cylinder, with the edges thereof inserted into two Vtightly fitting rings I5y which serve tofretain rthe=slieet in the cylindrical shape j Vand'to reenforce the guard member 12. j To permit the requiredv free'moveme'nty of theA f guard member around the Ymovable cutter 62, its

diameter is preferably slightly lar-ger thanthat ofsuch cutter, thereby providing the required with any of the corresponding members or structures of the other illustrated modified embodiatively upon the motor-handle I0, a block 16 jadaptedto't within-the seat YIltis provided. A

central vertical passage 18' is provided inA the I block 16 communicatingwiththe handle, into f which the motor shaft end I2, which is provided y with. a squaredy recessl I3, partly extends. -|I'he upper part of the passage 'I8 serves;V asa bearing for the lower cutter shaft 10-which` extends yfr'omi` the lower cutter 'disc' vand which is provided with asqu'ared reduced end portion 80, ttingfinto the recess I3 and operably engaged thereby.

Tosupport the upper end. of the cutter 62, a

f substantially L-shapedV bracket arm 82 may be' securedto an edge of the block '16, in la manner to/have one of vits legs 84 disposedhorizontally above, parallel to and spaced from the block 16. The horizontal bracket ,arm 84 may be provided withx a second bearing Sti-aligned with the first one 1n which may be journaled the upper cutter ments. Thus, the guard member, instead of being provided with small circular or rectangular hair admitting perforatlons, is constructed with elongated spirally arranged hair'admitting slots |06. It will be understood that the pitchv of the slots |06 and the cutter blades 92 will be different, and their relative magnitude may be varied.

VIt will be apparent that the guard lmembers of all the modifications illustrated and described are freely suspended adjacent the mechanically actuated cutter members,-areextremely thin, are

'pressed and he1d,`.as a unit,v against the cutter members, and freelyrevolvethereabout with a rolling motion over the skin as the device is passed shaft' 68, extending from the upper cutter disc The block 'I6 and the'bearing -86 may be provided, respectively, withfacing reduced' cylindrical bossesv and 90 around which the edges of' the cylindrical guard member 12, which may be made longer than the cutter, VmayV fit loosely,

to permit free movement thereof around the cutter and yet keep it from sliding off therefrom.

It will berecognized that the guard member of the modification just described `will likewise roll over the skin and be pressed `and held, as a unit,

' against the ycutter member to shave closely and *comfortably- Y e In Fig. 5,'I have illustrated a further modifica-A Y motorby a tight, Yremovable connection between the cutter shaft 94 and the motor shaft I2, which means of connection may be of any suitable type,

such as the squared pin 96 on the motor shaft 94 engaging the corresponding squared recess I3 on.

the motor shaft. The housing 'I2 may be movably `retained over the cutter by means of flanges 98 having inturned edges I 00, which may be integralr with a block |02 formed in sections or which, if desired, may be separably secured to aunitary block. The Yinturned edges |00 of the flan-ge 98 are'adapted to overhang the lower reenforcing ring |04 ofthe guard member to prevent removal thereof from the recess formed by the Vsaid flanges, the said fianges fitting loosely around the guard member to permit its independent rolling movement along the face when vthe device is passed over the skin. Y

The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5 shows furtherpossible modifications, which, it may here be stated, Yare readily adaptable for use with any of the other modifications and may be interchanged thereover in shaving,

'It will be further apparent that my novel shaving apparatus vwill provide a close and extremely i comfortable shavenot heretofore possible of `attainment. f l

While I haveshown and described certain specific examples of my invention, it' will be under- -stood that such examples are illustrative and are not given as limitations, since other modifications vwithin the spiritfand scope of the inventionwill be apparent to those skilledin the art. 'Hence, 1

I do not intend to limit myself thereto, but intend t0 claim my invention as broadly as may be pervrnitted by the state of the prior art and the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

-1. In a device of the character described adapted to be held and moved over the skin of the user in contact therewith'a motor, a handle enclosing the motor, a hair clipping unit ar'- ranged on the handle comprising a base secured to the handle, said base having a longitudinal channel extending'therethrough on the underside thereof, an element arranged in the base in the channel and adapted to be reciprocated therein by the motor, a, hollow cutter member above the said reciprocated element, an ear extending upwardly from each end of said element and secured vto the cutter member at the respective ends thereof, forkedA arms arranged on the base at each end'thereof and a hollow perforated guard member loosely mounted between the forked arms and loosely held on the cutter member for free turning movement with reference thereto and thereabout independently thereof, said cutter member adapted to be reciprocated within the said guard member.

2. In a dry shaver, l a cutter head including a stationary substantiallyv U-shaped frame of channel shaped cross sectional configuration and theY base portion of which is adapted to be removably secured within a handle, a substantially U -shaped movable frame having the base portion thereof cal cutter element slidably mounted within the a arm portions of the stationary frame and secured to the arm portions of the movable frame for reciprocation therewith, said inner cutter element having circumferentially extending axially spaced cutting teeth, an outer hollow cylindrical perforated cutterelement surrounding and adapted for free turning movementY with reference to the driven cutter element, with the opposite ends thereof located and confined between the arms of the stationary frame.

3. In a dry shaver, a cutter head including a stationary frame having a. channel therein, the

base portion of said cutter head adapted to be removably secured within a handle, a movable frame having the base portion thereof nested within the base` portion of the stationary frame and adapted for longitudinal reciprocaton'vvith reference thereto, an inner hollow cylindrical cutting element slidably mounted within the arm c portions of the stationary frame and secured to the arm portions of the movable frame for reciprocation therewith, said inner cutter element having circumferentially extending spaced cutting teeth, an outer. hollow cylindrical perforated cutter element surrounding and constructed and arranged for free turning movement with reference to the driven cutter element, with'the opposite ends thereof located a'nd conned' between said arms of the stationary frame.

4. In a dry shaver having a base, a cylindrical cutter member movably carried by the base, said member presenting `radial cutting surfaces, me- Y chanical means for moving the cutter member, and a cylindrical skin-contacting guard provided with hair-admitting perforations, said guard being disposed loosely around and supported exclusively by the cutter member, and being freely rotatable relative to and independently of said cutter member and mechanical means in response la cutter-supporting block reciprocally disposed ,within said channel, a cutter member xed on said cutter-supporting block and disposed thereabove, a. skin-contacting guard member provided with a plurality of hair-admitting perfov rations, said guard member being loosely mount- .ed onand freely rotatable relative to the cutter member in response to movement over the skin of the user, and means on the base member for arresting lateral movement of the guard member relative to the cutter member.

HARRY AARON. 

